Importers ask for discounts on falling rupee

New Delhi: With rupee plunging below the 55-level against dollar, which benefits exporters, global buyers are putting pressure on Indian exporters to offer 10-15 per cent discount on shipments.

The country's apex exporters body FIEO, however, said the continuous fall in the domestic currency will not help exporters much.

"Global buyers are putting pressure for more and more discounts. They are asking for about 10-15 per cent. They want to re-negotiate the deals," Director General of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Ajay Sahai said.

The country\'s apex exporters body FIEO, however, said the continuous fall in the domestic currency will not help exporters much.

Industry body Assocham said this is a "serious" situation as it will further increase the country's gold and crude oil imports, which in turn would widen the trade deficit.

India's trade deficit in 2011-12 has touched an all time high of $185 billion.

Ficci Secretary General Rajiv Kumar said that falling currency beyond a point is not good for economy and there is a need for strong reform measures.

"To overcome from the problem of fall, the government should immediately take strong economic reform steps to boost foreign direct investment. There is a need to remove the impediments to increase investments," Kumar said.

To check the sliding rupee, the Reserve Bank had last week asked exporters to convert half of their foreign exchange reserves into rupee to make available dollars in the market.

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